The Dodge Challenger Message Board

Can someone answer if a February 1970 hemi car could have a November 1968 casting date. All other stampings including vin and 10,000 day date appear original and untouched as do dates and codes on all accessories. Could an engine from the back of the rack been pulled for use (i.e. any supply issues around that time)

Started a new thread! Good lad!

The answer is it is not normal for a block to have been cast more than 2 months before the build bate of the car.

That does not make it impossible though. Just unlikely.

If you bought the car in a well restored condition it is suspisious. If it was in need of restoration when you got it and all the date codes on all the other parts are correct then I would say it was OK.

If you are worried about this there are ways to check the VIN pad on the block to see if it has been ground down and re-stamped but I don't know who would do it for you except maybe the police and I could understand if you didn't want to ask them.

Chances are it is OK though and there is a logical reason for it like a fault in some of the castings or a sudden demand for hemis that month.

Bit late to get in on this thread maybe. But here goes anyway.

As Dave says, the chances of an engine block casting date being much older than a few months are slim. But the situation is different with Hemi's.

I am quite sure that Hemi blocks were cast in batches often well before they were used. Indeed I believe the last casting date for Hemi blocks (prior to the MP re-issue) was September 1969. Therefore a lot of '70 cars and all '71's would all have 9-69 casting dates on the block.

My Hemi Road Runner had a 'warranty' block. ( A new short motor was installed in the late 70's.) This was cast in September 1969, and had a build date of February 1970. There was no stamping on the VIN pad above the pan rail.

When replacement engines were purchased without a VIN stamping, it was a legal requirement that the VIN be stamped on the pad, but back then no-one bothered. Nowdays, if someone stamped the VIN of a Hemi car built around April/May 1970 onto that block, they could claim the car has matching numbers, and as long as the font is correct it would be hard to prove otherwise.

I have found that a lot of so called 'matching numbers' cars in the USA are not exactly what they seem. Stamping numbers is quite common on rare cars. Many don't have matching numbers even though the owner says it has. Then there's the gearbox. A lot of matching number cars don't have matching transmissions! Some people don't count the trans!

Anyway, I reckon the car above is probably Kosher.